Through Monday, you can search immigration records on Ancestry.com for free.
If you live in the U.S., unless you are 100% native American, you have an ancestor (or many) who came to this country from somewhere else. Here’s an opportunity to search some records for free.
Happy hunting!
New items at the Webster County Genealogical Society:
As you can see, the Webster County Genealogical Society has a variety of materials from all over the country.
That is what real estate agents say is so important.
We added a Google calendar to this site so that people can see when we have a volunteer signed up or need a volunteer, and also know when the meetings are. That is not difficult – it’s the first Monday each month unless it’s a holiday, and then it’s the second Monday. Usually that’s only Labor Day, but sometimes it’s New Year’s Day.
But .. while working on this, I clicked on a link to Google maps and made a discovery.
Apparently Google thinks the Webster County Genealogical Society is at the Dayton Public Library.
Oops.
I sent a message to Google Maps about the error. I expect they will fix it within a couple of weeks. They were pretty good about it when I submitted a correction about the spelling of Meriwether Drive in Fort Dodge in July.
So, to clarify, the Webster County Genealogical Society is located inside the Fort Dodge Public Library in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The exact address is Room 134, 424 Central Avenue, Fort Dodge, IA 50501.
I have changed the entry to have the address instead of the name of the society, and it comes up properly on Google Maps.
~Carol Foltz, WCGS president~
The September meeting of the Webster County Genealogical Society will be held at 1 p.m. on Sept. 9 at the Fort Dodge Public Library. The reason for the meeting being on the second Monday of the month is because the library will be closed for Labor Day.
We are working on setting up a program sometime in the fall. Details will follow.
Membership dues for 2013-2014 are due in September. We will be electing officers soon.
Volunteers are needed. Please let us know if you are willing to help out at the society. We can be reached by email at webcoiagenies@gmail.com.
Members of the Webster County Genealogical Society should have already received their newsletters.
We have had a request for the newsletters to be in digital format, so they can be emailed instead of mailed. If you would like to have your newsletter emailed, please send your request to webcoiagenies@gmailcom. Put “newsletter” in the subject line.
Here is a two-page sample of the current newsletter, so you can see what the quality is. (link ) I was working from a copy, so it’s not 100 percent. But it’s readable. I’ll work from the original next time, so the quality should be better.
In addition to the two pages in the PDF, other information in the current newsletter includes: entries from the 1889/1890 Fort Dodge city directory from Fred Everhart to Chas F. Garrison, a continuation of the Webster Count probate index case numbers 1229 to 1262, a letter to the editor from May 1923 (responding to a letter to the editor that was in the previous newsletter), and some other miscellaneous items.
It’s not likely that we will have the entire newsletter online for nonmembers to access. We will email the newsletter to members who request it.
The July meeting of the Webster County Genealogical Society will be held at 1 p.m. on July 1 in Room 134 at the Fort Dodge Public Library. That is this coming Monday.
Members of the public are welcome to join us.
Do you have any questions or topics to bring up at the meeting? Please email us at webcoiagenies@gmail.com.
Two events in Fort Dodge this weekend focus on local history and memories.
The Oakland Cemetery Walk will be held today at Oakland Cemetery. Park at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1436 21st Ave. N. Shuttles will take tour groups to the cemetery from 1 to 3 p.m.
An indoor performance will be held at the Bioscience and Health Sciences building auditorium at Iowa Central at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $7.
DVDs of the walk are available, as well as presentations from past years. Cost is $7.
This event uses live actors to talk about the lives of people buried in Oakland Cemetery, as if they were that person. Each actor uses research from that person’s life to put together their performance. It’s quite interesting to see people from the past portrayed.
A second event this weekend is Capturing Memories. It will be held at the Vincent House, 824 Third Ave. S.
Learn about genealogy, creating an oral history, all things to do with ties, scrapbooking, picture blocks, picture quilts and more. Janet Secor will give a special presentation “What’s That Sound?”
Admission: $5 (includes door prizes and refreshments)
When: 2 to 4 p.m.
Where: Vincent House, 824 Third Ave. S.
Contact: YWCA, 573-3932, Ext. 202
Capturing Memories will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on June 9 at the Vincent House, 824 Third Ave. S.
Topics include Who Do You Think You Are? Genealogy, Tell Me About You Create An Oral History, All Things to Do With Ties, Picture Blocks, Picture Quilts, and a special presentation: What’s That Sound? by Janet Secor.
Admission is a $5 donation to the Vincent House. There will be door prizes and refreshments. Call the YWCA at 573-3931, ext. 202, for information.
The June meeting of the Webster County Genealogical Society is at 1 p.m. today at the society’s room at the Fort Dodge Public Library. Anyone with an interest in family history is welcome, even those who aren’t members of the society.
For a short time, you can buy the Family Tree Maker Deluxe software for $30.99 on Amazon.com. The normal price is $69.99.
It says that this version is for Windows 8, but under system requirements it says it will run on Windows XP, Vista or Windows; 7.
Read the reviews. There are people who love the software and people who hate it because they had problems.
One of the benefits of this package, though, is that it includes a three-month subscription to Ancestry.com. Currently, a six-month subscription is $77. So this is less than half of that cost. You do have to provide credit card information, as they will charge your card if you don’t cancel when the three months is up.
On Ancestry.com, they have two versions of Family Tree Maker: Family Tree Maker
2012 on sale for $29.99 and Family Tree Maker 2012 Complete on sale for $59.99. These each have a 14-day subscription, but you can get that anyway if it’s your first time signing up. The version on Amazon.com is Deluxe.
The sale on Amazon.com is for a short time – I was told until May 11, although I don’t see that on the Amazon.com page. It is in CD format, so you have to wait for it to arrive. It should have free shipping if you pick the standard shipping option.
This is not an endorsement. The Webster County Genealogical Society and its members and officers do not receive any benefit, financial or otherwise, from any of the named entities for any consideration or mention on this website. It is for informational purposes only. -Carol Foltz, president, Webster County Genealogical Society